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My wife and I are both retired. This is our second marriage.

Customer Question

Before me she was married...

my wife and I are both retired. This is our second marriage. Before me she was married to Charlie for 12 years who made a pretty good living. Charlie died three years ago in a car accident. My wife found out that she could triple her SS benefits by making a claim on his SS account. But...she would have to divorce me and end our 35 year marriage. If we divorce and do a property split and all the details of a divorce...is there anything in the rules saying we can no longer live together. I hate the idea of legally dissolving our marriage but making sure she is financially stable, and will be if something happens to me. So if we lived together would the SSA be okay with that or would they ship me off to a FEMA camp or worse?

Experience: 22+ years legal exp. - 12+ years owning/operating her own SSD Law practice.

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Hi, my name is***** and I am here to assist you. I am a social security attorney in my private practice – that is ALL I do. Please let me know that my post here is coming through for you by typing a quick reply.

Great question! There are definitely rules with regard to those collecting SSI, which is welfare. They can impute a marriage when applicable. And they are regularly used. I don't see them used in Social Security cases, however, which makes sense because it is not welfare, unlike SSI. There is no "deeming" of income that can disqualify one from benefits, in Social Security.

I note that you state you hate the idea (understandably!) of dissolving your marriage, and you suggest you would do so to make sure she is financially stable if something happens to you. Well, there are other ways, should you pass. First, if you pass she gets YOUR SS benefit, so if that is higher than her own, she can choose that. Also, she or you can buy term life insurance. have you thought of such other options?

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Hi Ms. Pearl, I am retired senior age 74 and started receiving my themSSI early and receiving $1,750.00 monthly and would like to increase my monies by $640.00 additional per month, due to a Federal l… read more

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Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.